Clear, 37° F
(Jan. 18, 1945 - Oct. 30, 2014)
Linda Mary (Fales) Parkin passed on to be with loved ones on Oct. 30, 2014, at her home in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. She valiantly battled cancer with a positive and strong attitude for 17 years — no matter what she suffered.
Throughout her life she was a wonderful example of service to others regardless of their background or life. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.
She was born Jan. 18, 1945, in Greybull to Heard and Alice (Johannesen) Fales, and lived on the family’s farm in Emblem until 1959 when the family moved to Powell.
In Emblem she took piano lessons and started becoming an accomplished piano player — a talent she shared throughout her life. She graduated from Powell High School in 1963, where she was active in journalism and English studies. She was involved in 4H and, under the direction of her mother, became a very good seamstress. She often credited the experience of pulling weeds on the family farm, along with her two brothers, as a very important part of her life and learning to work.
She developed a lifelong love of the Grand Tetons while working at Jackson Lake Lodge during the summers of 1962 and 1963.
She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English in 1967. She then moved to Hollister, Calif., where she took her first position teaching English at Hollister High School. From there she taught English and drama at John Muir Junior High School in San Jose.
In the 1970s, she moved to Southern California and worked for USC and The Doheny Eye Foundation as well as the Hughes Aircraft Company. She lived in Sierra Madre, Irvine, Malibu (overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean, which she loved!) and the Pacific Palisades area where she met her husband, Steve Parkin, whom she deeply loved. They were married on Dec. 19, 1981, in the Pacific Palisades Ward and were sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles California Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Jan. 29, 1983. For the past 22 years she lived in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., where, along with her husband, she compassionately served others year after year. During this time she served as a Stake Relief Society President for her Church and prepared the weekly Desert Hot Springs Ward program.
Linda is survived by her husband, Steve Parkin; stepdaughter Stacey (Darren) Atwood and family; stepson Jeff (Stephanie) Parkin and family; brother Steven (Kathryn) Fales and Terry Ann Andersen and their six children and families; brother David (Kristine) Fales and 10 of their children and families; her stepmother Vivian Fales; her aunt Joan Talbott; and her living Fales and Johannesen cousins.
She was preceded in passing by her parents and nephew Jonathan Fales.
A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, at the Desert Hot Springs Ward building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. As she willed her sacred body to science, interment will be in Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell during December 2014.
